On November 6, we will have many choices. One of the most important is the renewal of
the funding (one mill) for the Genesee Health Plan (GHP).

Last year Genesee was ranked the sixth lowest county overall in the County
Health Rankings (7th percentile).
While all other measures were below the 20th percentile,
Clinical Care in our county was ranked at the 88th percentile in our
state.

While we have wonderful medical
resources here, this ranking was partly based on the access to physician visits
and screening provided to otherwise uncovered patients by the Genesee Health
Plan.

This innovative program is not insurance – it is a health plan that
provides a formal agreement between physicians, nurses and pharmacists to
provide coordinated basic health care to patients who are pre-screened as
falling below a set income level and not otherwise eligible for insurance.

GHP currently provides basic health services,
including doctor visits, x-rays, cancer screenings and prescription drugs to
approximately 25,000 adults in our county.
In addition, it provides assistance with care coordination, low-cost
eyeglasses, and used medical equipment.

And
no public money is used for its administration, which is solely funded by
grants and donations.

I believe the humanitarian imperative to renew this millage is obvious. Since its inception 10 years ago, GHP has
facilitated care for more than 60,000 of our neighbors in this county.

While physicians have historically provided
charity care, this was restricted by the Balanced Budget Act of 1998, in which
private insurance companies lobbied hard to require physicians to charge the
same fee to all payers, including patients who do not have insurance.

Insurance companies now negotiate a lower
payment (despite a higher charge), leaving patients without insurance to pay
the highest possible fee – or feel that they are dependent on charity.

By accepting the patients with GHP,
physicians and other health providers are able to legally contribute to the
care of those less fortunate. Perhaps
more importantly, it provides a SYSTEM of care, in which the physician and
patient can be assured that when a patient is sent to a health care provider that
accepts GHP, the patient will get the agreed-upon services without
complication.

This preserves the dignity
of the patient, and significantly decreases the effort otherwise required by
physician offices to arrange each individual piece of care for patients who are
uninsured.

In addition to compassionate considerations, there are also very
practical reasons to renew this millage:
it saves money.

Since this
program was started the plan has achieved the following results for its
recipients: emergency room visits (the most
expensive form of care) are down 51 percent, inpatient hospital visits have
been reduced by more than 15 percent, mammograms and preventative screenings
for women have quadrupled, and exercise and healthy eating have increased by 57
percent.

Considering our dismal ratings
in the health rankings and the cost of the complications of chronic disease, we
can't afford not to fund it.

Please don't forget to vote, and
please also urge your family and friends (and their families) to renew funding
for this effective and necessary health plan.

Laura A. Carravallah,
MD is President of the Genesee County Medical Society